Are CBT interventions effective with disadvantaged job-seekers who are long-term unemployed?

Abstract

Research into effective interventions for the negative psychological impacts of long-term unemployment has been sparse. One intervention, based on cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), has been successfully implemented in two studies with long-term unemployed professionals and youth. Can these findings be generalized to disadvantaged job-seekers who are long-term unemployed? Local support services for unemployed people located within disadvantaged areas in Sydney were approached to recruit volunteer participants. Participants were assigned in random blocks to a brief group CBT training programme or a non-CBT skills-based comparison programme. Telephone administered questionnaires completed before each course and 12 weeks later assessed psychological health variables (general mental health, self-esteem, hopelessness, optimism, self-efficacy) and success in job finding. Analyses are based on the 57 CBT group participants and 43 comparison group participants who completed 12-week follow-up assessments. Both groups reported improvements in psychological health variables at 12 weeks. Improvements in optimism and hopelessness were greater for the comparison group than the CBT group. This study was unable to replicate the benefits of CBT-based programmes for disadvantaged long-term unemployed job-seekers. The difficulties and limitations of disseminating effective interventions to unemployed groups who are most disadvantaged using existing support services are discussed.